Mike Powell Fanclub

Yesterday on CKCU I had a conversation with Shawn Menard on the “Our Ottawa” group. There’s been lot’s of hints over the past few months as to what exactly the organization is, much to the consternation of some. They’ve been pitching themselves as a “network of community organizations”, and their first real release was more than a little cagey, though it does position them of being generally in favour of centre-leftish (with an emphasis on the centre) urbanist ideas. You won’t find much disagreement in this corner with things like restricting the urban boundary, supporting services like Crime Prevention Ottawa, or a more general push to city-wide thinking.

I think the interview clears things up a little bit more, leaving a bit of a better scope of who is actually involved. It’s also pretty clear that there is some manner of organisation behind the group, and they aim to make it more than an umbrella title for a coalition of like-minded groups. While they aren’t going to run a slate of candidates, they are going to do some decidedly slate-like things and (I paraphrase here) endorse candidates that are willing to endorse their principles, and maybe even look out to find some people to carry the flag. It seemed pretty clear that endorsement will come with at least some organizational and volunteer support.

That’s a pretty big deal, especially if they are as organized as they make it sound. Unseating incumbent councillors is a daunting prospect, even if you have a group of dedicated and connected volunteers, but is certainly not impossible. The real advantage will probably be in open contests, of which there are at least three so far. Council candidates have a notoriously tough time trying to build profile, so being able to associate with a larger group of ideas can only help.

We’re still a ways off from the election, and it’s still a bit early to tell exactly what effect this will have at the ballot box. At this point, I think that its fair to say that they will be an important part of the campaign, and should make the council races a whole lot more interesting. Short of it being a spectacular failure,  I expect that we’re going to see more coordination like this in the future, and especially from those that disagree with what Our Ottawa ultimately advocates.

Our Ottawa is organizing a rally today at noon at City Hall to oppose the re-opening of the urban boundary, so if you are around you should go and check that out.

 Shawn Menard on "Our Ottawa" [10:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This morning, Adam had a chance to chat with Peter Raaymakers of Public Transit in Ottawa about their new Journal on, of all things, public transit it Ottawa. The journal is free, online, and has a neat community-reviewed structure, and deserves to be checked out.

 Peter Raaymakers on the Journal of Public Transit in Ottawa [7:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This morning, Josh and I had a chance to chat with Ottawa mayoral candidate Jim Watson. We talked about why he was looking to come back to municipal politics, the challenges of a 10-month campaign (especially with the burden of a “front-runner” moniker), and talked specifically about transit and Lansdowne.

Watson clarified his comments from last week a bit, but still used some the phrasing that frustrated Reevely so last week (”Cut the suit to fit the cloth”, etc.) We pushed a bit on the transit issue, but he’s still pretty vague as to what something being affordable means. That said, he was pretty clear that it’s important to move forward on these files, and it doesn’t sound like he is going to look to change decisions that have already been made should he be elected. That’s a good thing.

Anyway, Watson is going to be an interesting force over the next year: he’s pretty clearly the front runner, and suspect that he’s going to be pretty tough to beat over the course of it. That means that, as we decide on these big issues, his opinion should have some affect amongst the public, even if he doesn’t get an actual vote at council.

This is the second of our conversations with mayoral candidates, having previously spoken with Alex Cullen. We’ll keep plugging away as time and circumstances permit, and will endeavour to speak with people again as things actually start to happen. We also won’t limit ourselves to the city-wide race, and will likely start turning our eyes to some choice council seats closer to the date.

 Jim Watson on his Mayoral run [18:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’ve got an exciting show lined up tomorrow: at 7:30, I’ll be joined by Colin Carmichael of noprorogue.ca to talk about the growing grassroots criticism of the government’s decision to prorogue. At 8:30, Josh will speak with Andrew Nikiforuk about the recent arrest (and release without charge) of activist Wiebo Ludwig in relation to a series of pipeline bombings in BC. As always, we are on the air from 7-9am on 93.1fm in Ottawa, www.ckcufm.com for people from everywhere else.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Watson looks likely to throw his hat in the ring.

Hartman’s piano gets pulled.

Man attacked by pet tiger.

Mark McGwire juiced. In other news, Kieth Richards has used narcotics.

Legal aid lawyers to expand boycott of low rates.

Coyote cull contest criticized

This morning, we spoke with Bay Ward councillor and mayoral candidate Alex Cullen. The audio is below.

Cullen is first out the gate, and is obviously quick to frame himself as an experienced guy that knows what he’s doing and is unafraid to speak realisitically about taxes and services. His efforts on transparency are along the same vein. You can expect that this will be a dominant theme from a couple of candidates, including some of the rumoured high-profile ones, so it makes sense to try to associate himself with it early.

Also, as a heads up, I’ll be trying to get all of the candidates, as they declare, for similar interviews. I’ll probably also touch back with candidates as things move forward.

Also also, you should check out Cullen’s website at www.electalexcullen.ca. He’s right that it’s a bit rough (and there was some twitter catcalling to that effect yesterday), but he does have a fair number of ideas and issues up there, so it’s worth a look.

 Alex Cullen runs for Mayor [12:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to 2010! I hope everyone had a good vacation, and that they aren’t resenting getting back to the grind of the real world *too* much. As mentioned over the last few shows, Adam is travelling through Europe for the next couple of months, so in his stead we will be joined by my good friend Josh Zanin.

We’ve got quite the show lined up for this week. At 8:30, we’ll be talking with the first person to enter the race for Mayor in the fall municipal elections, Bay Ward Councillor Alex Cullen. The Citizen has details.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Parliament to take an extended winter break, watch olympics, and not ask pesky questions of the government.

Suddenly less beautiful kicked off of vain dating site in what is almost certainly a great PR stunt for getting kinda fat.

Man’s attempt to blow up plane via underpants ignition prompts airline security crackdown.

Irish Atheists challenge new law banning speech blasphemy. The enlightenment wants their tensions back.

“Postal Code” lottery for cancer treatment?

Downtown transit tunnel one step closer to reality.

Dead Sea Scrolls bring with them interesting history, controversy over ownership, in visiting Toronto.

This morning I spoke with Roger Greenberg, CEO of Minto, one of the three organizations behind the Lansdowne Live proposal. You may recall that I spoke with Clive Doucet (who I presume is the Councillor that Mr. Greenberg refers to) about this matter back in April.

In any case, the proposal goes before Council this week. Expect a mess of public delegations on Thursday, and I can only presume a heated debate amongst Councillors on Friday. I presume that efforts will be made to change the staff report suggesting that this plan move ahead, making it unclear what might actually be accepted in the end.

For what its worth, I am very much concerned that rejecting this proposal will just leave Lansdowne in the state that it is for the foreseeable future, which would be the real tragedy. I think that any development needs to be mixed-use, and think that a lot can be done to make any retail component something more than just a mall and benefit neighbouring businesses in the Glebe. How successful we are at this will determine how successful the new plan is. I also worry that we are developing a nasty habit of comparing every tangible proposal with every imaginable ideal one (and dread when we start to talk about the transit tunnel in greater detail.)

 Roger Greenberg on Lansdowne Live [9:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This morning I spoke with Charles Akben-Marchand, past-president of Citizens for Safe Cycling, about Sunday’s hit-and-run in Kanata and cycling safety more generally.

I do have more to say on this- it’s a pretty exceptional and terrifying event, and I think the city is rightly shocked- and will put something up tonight over at the bike blog.

 Charles Akben-Marchand on Cycling Safety [8:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Happy Tuesday all! We are inching closer to the official beginning of summer! Join Adam and I from 7-9am to talk about the week that was; www.ckcufm.com for those from away.

At 7:45, I will be speaking with Peter Blouin, who is helping organize Ottawa’s World Naked Bike Ride event. At 8:10, Adam will speak with Annie Langlois from the Museum of Nature on the Roundtable on water usage.

We’ll also touch on at least some of the following:

My home province (and where Adam wishes he was from) is holding a provincial election today, with every indication being that the incumbent tories will lose to the NDP.

In a push to remain relevant, the PQ announces a return to campaigning for sovereignty, albeit in steps.

Let the bad times roll: Ottawa gets 375 million in stimulus funding; its still a shame we don’t have our transit plan sorted out yet.

The federal government changes the time limits for transit drivers; only Ottawa pleased.

Down in the polls? Go after criminals. And Terrorists.

Buy America spreads; Canadian Municipalities torn in response.

Pirates, Nationalists elected to UK parliament.

Glen Breton fights to keep its name.

Playing outside is should be homework.

On Tuesday, I spoke with Jon Bartlett about Kelp Records 15th anniversary, how the industry has changed since 1994, and this weekends anniversary (kelpiversary?) celebrations. 

Jon’s got a pretty good set of shows lined up this weekend- things kicked off last night at the Mayfair with Jim Bryson and the Acorn, but keeps going today at the WIP Gallery and the Elmdale. Tomorrow, there is a lunchhour show at the Carleton Tavern and an evening show at the Glue Pot Pub. I missed out on getting a bracelet, but will be at the Elmdale tonight.

Not able to make the shows? Boo. You can download the Kelp15 compilation here for free.

 Jon Bartlett on 15 Years of Kelp Records [10:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

« Previous entries